Quinn Touts Foreign Jobs

Mon, 09 Sep 2013 15:55:23 CDTBy: AP

Gov. Pat Quinn claims Illinois has added 80,000 jobs through foreign firms since he took office, but some economists say he can't take all the credit. The Chicago Democrat released new jobs figures while in Japan for a conference with other governors and business executives. He returns on Tuesday. Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity spokeswoman Sandra Jones says Quinn's figures come from a report from Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. That's a New Jersey-based credit reporting service for businesses. The figures are from 2009's end to earlier this year. University of Illinois economist Fred Giertz says the increase is possible, but much of it is automatic. He says international companies want to do business in Illinois and some will whether an elected official pushes it or not.